The term is rather general in meaning, and is refined as needed by various scientific fields. Something that is composed of particles may be referred to as being particulate.[3] However, the term particulate is most frequently used to refer to pollutants in the Earth's atmosphere, which are a suspension of unconnected particles, rather than a connected particle aggregation.

N refers to the number of particles considered. As simulations with higher N are more computationally intensive, systems with large numbers of actual particles will often be approximated to a smaller number of particles, and simulation algorithms need to be optimized through various methods.[20]

Distribution of particles

Colloidal particles are the components of a colloid. A colloid is a substance microscopically dispersed evenly throughout another substance.[21] Such colloidal system can be solid, liquid, or gaseous; as well as continuous or dispersed. The dispersed-phase particles have a diameter of between approximately 5 and 200 nanometers.[22] Soluble particles smaller than this will form a solution as opposed to a colloid. Colloidal systems (also called colloidal solutions or colloidal suspensions) are the subject of interface and colloid science. Suspended solids may be held in a liquid, while solid or liquid particles suspended in a gas together form an aerosol. Particles may also be suspended in the form of atmospheric particulate matter, which may constitute air pollution. Larger particles can similarly form marine debris or space debris. A conglomeration of discrete solid, macroscopic particles may be described as a granular material.

↑F. W. Sears, M. W. Zemansky (1964). "Equilibrium of a Particle". University Physics (3rd ed.). Addison-Wesley. p. 27. LCCN63015265. A body whose rotation is ignored as irrelevant is called a particle. A particle may be so small that it is an approximation to a point, or it may be of any size, provided that the action lines of all the forces acting on it intersect in one point.